The great Pyramids of Giza




Situated west of the Nile, bordering the Sahara Desert, the Giza plateau rises up in its glory to present its full authority. It is here that an ancient King coordinated a mammoth undertaking exploiting the full value of the looming plateau. Eternal life would surely be granted with the precision and meticulous execution of King Khufu's perfect pyramid. Other pyramids had been built before, but none would ever achieve the genius, grace and competence of this Great Pyramid.
Still standing today, it stands a silent witness to the events that immediately followed the kings decision to build his pyramid on this site. Strangely, Khufu decided to build his pyramid just to one side of the highest ground on the plateau. Perhaps this section would require less work to lay the foundation, over 9 acres, of the pyramid. We can begin to surmise how the pyramid was built by the abundant evidence at the site. A project of this magnitude would require people, housing, food and tools. Traces of all of this have been found, and a small village has been excavated that would be sufficient to house the appropriate number of people necessary to build the largest pyramid. The graffiti of the original work gangs are scrawled across the upper most chambers, chambers that were never meant to be entered, which may have only been included to relieve the tremendous weight upon the main chamber.Following the lead of Khufu, two of his successors also built their pyramids on the plateau. His son, Khafre, exploited the higher ground, and was able to achieve the illusion of his pyramid as being the tallest. In actuality, his pyramid was shorter than Khufu's. Khafre is assumed to have been responsible for carving the Great Sphinx which is aligned to his pyramid. The smallest pyramid, that of Menkaure, was the final attempt to pyramid the plateau. Menkaure's pyramid also suffered the fate of other pyramids and tombs throughout Egyptian history, the king died